'Give us this day our daily mask'

As quoted from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. And now I shall quote from the movie V for Vendetta, which is based off of the graphic novel by [Alan Moore, not Neil Gaiman]. "We all wear masks. Life creates them and forces us to find one that fits."

Now, my question to you guys is, are masks hindrances in finding truth, or do they reflect them? And, of course, why?

Equal or not?

Hi all, I would like to pose a question to you-

Equality is one of the values that we as both human beings and Americans hold most dear. It is one of the basic principles that this country was founded on. Still another value that we hold dear is individuality, and our ability to express ourselves and be unique. I think that is fair to assume that humanity has not reached the level of equality that many wish to. S0 despite our considerable effort towards reaching equality, we all still treasure our individuality. Someone can be an incredible musician, and terrible at math, and it can be vise-versa as well. Thus I ask you this does equality rely on our abilities? Also then no matter what personal talents, or virtues someone else has, do we treat them as equal? How do we then define equality without contradicting ourselves and pointing out that persons qualities that make him or her an individual. I guess my final question is are we to treat everyone equal regardless of their talents or faults, even is it defies what we think of as "ethical, or moral."

Have a great nite;)

Perfect Clone Theory: Fate vs Free Will

I though of this today so this is an original theory, this is a theory attempting to find the truth in the free will vs. fate arguments.
So I don't really have a clue about the current cloning situation, but we can maybe clone a goat? OK, so the following situation will be completely hypothetical. Much like allegory in the cave one has to go with the scenario and please don't say, this could never happen because... just go with it from where I leave off. I will leave off questions and will respond to comments appropriately. The whole scenario will not be fully explained in the initial post and more will be added, depending on the comments.

So there is a man the subject of "Perfect Cloning". Perfect Cloning is cloning to the exact molecule, where normal cloning emphasizes only gene replication, perfect cloning is everything, the amount of hair, the exact mass down to the last atom, the piece of food stuck to the teeth, the bacteria living on the skin, every single detail of this man, and the organisms present within or on this man down to the last atom. The man gains consciousness within a room, where the clone will gain consciousness in a "perfect clone room" where the room is replicated in exactly the same detail as the originals, down to the last atom. Emphasis is on every single freaking detail, the exact temperature , humidity, air pressure... and time. The location is on the same latitude and longitude of the earth to equalize the time due to to rotation of the earth. The clone's room is on top of the originals, so modifications of air pressure and stuff may be needed. The rooms are exactly the same, down to the last atom! The man regains consciousness at the same time as the clone. The man says, "where am I?"

The question is, would the clone also say the same thing at exactly the same time, as well as with the exact same movements? ie. air released, temperature change, same volume?

Lets use some math.
Say the two rooms, on a molecular level are exactly the same.
R1 and R2 are set equal to each other, so we have:
R1 represents the original room, and R2 the exact replica of the room.
R1=R2
Let M1 represent the original man and M2 represent the clone
R1+M1=R2+M2, assume this is true in terms of whatever, lets use mass as an example. (feel free to substitute mass with anything else)
Mass=X
So original room and the original man combined makes
R1+M1=X1
R2+M2=X2

thus

X1=X2

The question becomes, is this equation true for if X becomes something abstract like the brain frequencies of a human and clone, or the thoughts generated by the human and clone? What about concrete stuff like mass and pressure and movements?

Dress code/Religious symbols

In French right now we’re discussing Islamic veils and their role in school. There was an issue in France where two girls wore their veils to school and were consequently expelled as church and state are supposed to be separated and the schools are part of the state. However, there was disagreement about whether this violated personal liberty. So long as the religious symbol is “discreet” it can be worn, such as crosses or such, but it’s up to the principal to determine whether the symbol is discreet.

In class the issue of which veil came up. Some people argued that a burkha or nikab would be a safety concern since you wouldn’t know who was actually wearing it. However, there was a general consensus that just the head covering was alright; many people compared it to a hat.

Other issues were:

Gang symbolism is not allowed so why would religious symbols be?

Hate crimes

Using religion as an excuse for wearing whatever you wanted and not abiding by the dress code

In the U.S. we have a protected right that allows us to express ourselves, and yet some schools, public schools, have uniforms. What if one wishes to express themselves through their clothing? I understand that the uniforms are in order to establish equality among students, yet how does this not infringe upon personal freedom of expression?

Perception seems to be the primary way of knowing as it is purely a visual experience. For example, my cousin in Louisiana goes to a school were uniforms are mandatory. She put blue streaks in her hair over the summer, and when she came back to school she was suspended for two days until she got rid of them. It was purely a visual thing. Logic would dictate that you abide by the laws, and our bill of rights is fairly clear.

I don’t understand how demonstrating your faith to someone else is forcing that faith upon them.

Symbols

I had an interesting conversation with my mother yesterday. We had somehow got into a discussion about how different symbols mean things to people. When she asked me what symbols I would use for different ideas, we were pretty amazed at my answers. Here they are:

Hate: a heart
Freedom: chains
Faith: sunrise
Knowledge: flame
Learning: books
Happiness: an open space in which to be myself

I know this may sound a bit cheesy, but I'd be interested in what everyone sees as a symbol for each of these ideas. (and your justifications for them) If anyone wants me to justify mine I'd be happy to as well.

Love

When someone says, I know I am in love. What are they saying? What justifications are they using? Is this really a PJTB? How does love fit into all of this?

Faith vs Intuition

What is the difference between faith and intuition? As I was writing Journal #3 for class on Monday, I had to decide whether one of my justifications for my belief was faith or intuition. I instinctively knew that it should be intuition, but I was curious about the difference. I decided to post it on the blog because I thought that it might be a problem that all of us would run into at one time or another, especially when trying to justify a tricky belief :-)

Footnote for spoof raises awareness

Also, for the spoof raises awareness, to see the website, just click on the title "Spoof raises Awareness" and it will take you there. Something else to think about: is it ok for this company to have this fake website in order to raise awareness???

Spoof raises awareness

The other day I read an article about mail order bride agencies (yes they do actually exist) where someone set up a website of mail order brides that were between age 13 and 22 in order to raise awareness of the problem. At first I thought it was silly to assume that this was a huge problem in the modern world but then a simple google search gave me over 2,000 websites in which a person could literally look at pictures of women then pay money to have that person shipped to the U.S. I thought this was morally incorrect...but was interested to see what other people think, I mean, lots of women people sign up for the bride agencies by free will because they need a means to achieve a goal, like being supported financially for life. I dunno, I posted a link to one of the websites just so you guys can check it out. Anyways, go take a look and tell me what you think.

Communist leaders

As the IB seniors know, we've been studying four major communist leaders over the past couple of weeks (if you dont know,a) you have probably been living under a rock and, b) Mr. Brown will come after you wish his little spray bottle):
Stalin, Lenin, Castro, and Mao

How could they justify the murders, corruption and other atrocities? Was it faith that they were doing the right thing for the country? Or was it personal ambition? Or a combination of both?

While reading Crime and Punishment, I found a quote from Svidrigailov "...Reason is the slave of passion, you know, why, probably, i was doing more harm to myself than anyone!" (280) Does this apply to the people under these leaders? The Chinese population of the time (especially the children who were being educated) seemed to worship Mao, saw him as a god, and wouldn't even wash their hands if he had shook them. Yet, the famine that was a result of his "vision" for the country killed millions, and he would kill anyone believed to be a rightist. Did the peoples adoration blind them to this? Or was it fear (isn't there a syndrome like this in kidnappings...? I may be totally making this up, but I think the kidnappee starts to like their abductor...)?

Blog Posting

I first want to thank you all for beginning this year in such a positive light when it comes to blog posting. Again, by you remaining mature, thoughtful adults, you are making it possible for future students to expand what we can do as a TOK class. Great work so far. But as we begin the blog logging process (starting this week!), I want to make a few comments based on the teachers' and students' perspective...

1. Mrs. King and I have said this to you all but please remember... your use of this blog is related to how well you will perform on the final essay and presentations... It will help... we promise. So take advantage.

2. Think about what you post... Simple questions are great but be thoughtful in how you present your ideas and potential debate topics. Ask for what you want... justifications? claims and counterclaims? etc.

3. Discuss! You have taken to posting so well that we are drowning in posts and comments have been lacking lately. Your initial ideas and thoughts are great, but until you talk, challenge one another's ideas and respond to what you read, you will be limiting your own skills. So slow down on posting a bit and take some time to comment.
(There will be ebbs and flows with this aspect of the blog but please help keep it balanced)

3. Use your TOK skills! Use the language, the concepts, personal examples... and Justify, Justify, Justify.

Art

This post is dedicated to SamE. God bless his soul.

So, going off the idea of EE, I feel that I owe it to all of you to present to you the possibility of deciding whether or not something is art. Andres Serrano's Piss Christ has raised more controversy than any other single art piece in the last century (keep in mind that Mapplethorpe's X-Portfolio was just that, a portfolio. 15 photos). I think it is art. It follows the vast majority of the elements and principles of design, and despite that it is still being argued over--admittedly less religiously than before. I say we recreate 1989 right here, and supply evidence for both sides of the argument.

Protesters Uprising

In history, there have been many protests , even when United States of America was first formed, they were able to gain their independence through protesting and basically "opposing" the British government. So in South Korea, in May 18th, 1980, Gwangju citizens protested against the government. Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Massacre
Read the Wikipedia entry.


Also read the US involvement Article: http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/usknew.htm

What I'm asking is this,

Just discuss about it...

I personally really did not like the whole ordeal. The idea actually is that (don't quote me on this but just fyi), Chun Doo Hwan actually moved against a certain type of Koreans in the area. The country is divided to states just like US except not as much. But Chun Doo Hwan came from a different state which was against the general people who came from the state he attacked. It has been for generations, but why did he do such a thing?? Just by the way Chun Doo Hwan is actually still alive and is rich off of government money.


It is clearly informed that the US was informed of the event.

One Nation Under Surveillance

Here is a debate that has been raging for quite some time now. Ever since the Patriot Act, the issue of government surveillance over the public has been hotly contested. This type of monitoring over its citizens includes phone tapping and cameras on street corners and high traffic areas.

Overall, does the government have the right to “spy” on its own citizens?
Is there enough justification for the government to install surveillance cameras in public areas?
Does this photograph represent the United States in a fair light?

This photo is courtesy of David Foster, a contact of mine in a photography magazine that I contribute to.




One Nation Under Surveillance

Slavery and Truth

In 7th hour today, we got into a discussion of how slavery could be validated with truth tests, especially the pragmatic theory. Because it was useful and valuable to a people, the knowledge claim that 'it is right to enslave others' was accepted as a properly justified true belief for sometime. This led to the discussion about slavery today, and why most cultures disagree and see this claim would be seen as untrue, even though enslaving others could still be argued to be a pragmatic practice.For a shocking look about slavery in the 21st century, take a look at this National Geographic site. I will try to find the actual magazine (it's buried somewhere in my house), but in the meantime, this gives a pretty grim picture of the enlightened world in which we live.

Mrs. King

Language of Faith

Okay so in class a week ago some people in our 5th hour TOk class got into a discussion about the word faith verses the word belief. To use an authority we decided to look this up in a dictonary to see if anyone's justifications were correct. I neever saw this before, before listening to my classmates; it is very surpriing how much you can learn if you listen to what people have to say but any ways in the dictonary the word faith and believe are almost interchangable, this taking into account was a very old dictonary that I asked a Science teacher to use. What do you think of this? Take a look at your dictonary at home and see if it has anything to say about them being similar. Then tell what you think it means personally, is faith and believe have the meaning to be switched?

Gun Control

Today in seventh hour, we got into a discussion concerning gun control in he US, in relationship to Pragmatic Theory. It was suggested that both sides to the argument (for and against) were justifiable through all three theories, and so there is no clear side. Like Hegel's theory, this creates a thesis and an antithesis. My question is, how do you (the TOK student) justify this controversial subject? How can you apply these theories to this, to properly justify your true beliefs so that you know something? Can two different people discussing the same topic know two completely different things? What other areas or topics of discussion can this apply to?

Ugliness

In San Francisco, persons classified as "ugly" may not walk down any street. This is a true law. If you are, as I asked my Business Law teacher, you would be arrested.

My first reaction was that this law was absolutely ridiculous. I understand laws to keep the city beautiful (recycling, air pollution prevention) but to this extent?

What kind of scale is this judged upon? So far in my life experience I've never heard of an 'ugly scale.' I feel its relative to every person: after all, isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder? Or is that just a stupid outdated notion disproved by the media again and again today?

Now, its definitely constitutional because it doesn't violate the first amendment: what does it violate? How would you feel if you were told you classified as ugly and were arrested and fined?

Just Words

I got into an interesting discussion the other day about the power of words. I was thinking about how the same words, said at different times, can have two totally different effects. My question is this: Do words in and of themselves have power, or does the power lay in the emotion that we invest in them?

Laughter in the Classroom

So, I've begun to notice how, in my classes outside of the IB world, that students show an increasing amount of disrespect towards teachers. I would never dream of this, but many of them laugh at, talk over, and make fun of their teachers in class, specifically when the teacher is talking. Why? These men and women are adults, older, wiser, and in charge. Perhaps these students feel that they no longer need to act like good little children, but respect is still necessary. So, what do you all think? Is there anyway to justify the behavior? What does this suggest of the morals of the new generation? What does this mean for future generations?

As much as I hate bringing MySpace into this...

There is something that has been really getting under my skin at an increasing level. This irksome problem I speak of is the content of the posts on the Poudre Myspace forum. It seems that 95% of these posts consist of students “arguing” back and forth about politics and ethics. I placed arguing in quotations because what they do is closer to pre-pubescent boys shot full of testosterone squabbling over who sucks more. Insults are hurled back and forth and are filled with disgusting slurs that would make the biggest bigot proud and spelling and grammar that would make even a fifth grade teacher cringe. These people seem to think it’s OK, actually not OK, but cool, to toss around profanities, threats, and slurs without a second thought. I’d like to think that they don’t understand the seriousness of what they’re saying, but intuition tells me otherwise which makes me seriously concerned about the state of their moral character.

The intensity of hate that I witness on the boards seriously concerns me as well. These threats, slurs, and profanities are coming from people who are 18 and younger. How can someone have so much hate inside them at such a young age? Have they been raised to act/think like that? Has something truly awful happened to them to change their point of view? Or have they just adopted that persona to fit in, and if that’s the case, when did hate become cool? Doesn’t anyone realize that if a serious politician read what they were writing they’d be deeply ashamed and quite possibly horrified?



(This is the abridged version of what I initially wrote because I felt like I should cut some things out because they didn’t really pertain to TOK.)

What Determines A Legacy?

The recent passing of the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti who has greatly influenced and exposed Italian opera to the world, has awoken a new question inside me. What determines a legacy? Is it influence? Is it brilliance? or what?

Talking Nonsense

So, as I was re-reading Crime and Punishment I came upon this passage that I thought could be applied to tok.

"I like them to talk nonsense. That's man's one privilege over all creation. Thought error you come to the truth! I am a man because i err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen. And a fine thing, too, in it's way; but we can't even make mistakes on our own account! Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I'll kiss you for it. To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's. I the first case you are a man, in the second you're no better than a bird. Truth won't escape you, but life can be cramped. There have been examples. And what are we doing now? In science, development, thought, invention, ideals, aims, liberalism, judgement, experience and everything, everything, everything, we are still in the preparatory class at school. We prefer to live on other people;s ideas, it's what we are used to! Am I right, Am i right?"(Crime and Punishment 202-203)

I was wondering what other people thought of Razumihin's drunken ravings, for I personally found that I agreed with a majority of it.

9/11's Around the corner...

So everyone who's been keeping their eyes on the calendar knows that 9/11 is right around the corner. Normally this day is used to improve nationalism and to unite our country in an effort to protect itself and honor those who lost their lives six years ago.

However this year, activist groups are taking a different look at this day. Marches are going to be held on Washington DC, people are encouraged to speak out against this war. 9/11 is supposed to be a day without school, work, buying or anything. We are encouraged to 'Hit the Streets'.

I'm still trying to make up my own mind on how I feel about this event, but I figured I had a huge resource of ideas and opinions within IB. What do you guys think about using this day to pose a strike and to have this particular month filled with various protests, etc.? I know that one can claim that it's not ok to use this particular day to protest the war, but is it really ok to use this day to encourage it? If it's the lives of those lost that we're trying to honor, then why are we sacrficing more in this 'Endless War'?

While looking this stuff up, I came across quite a few outraged editorial authors who commented on Congress' recent decision to allow Bush the power to montior and 'wiretap without a warrent for 6 months.' We learned while reading Anthem, I believe, that Liberty/Freedom and Safety are in a constant tug-of-war. What do you guys think about this? About the fact that our freedoms are disappearing for 'safety'... and even that 'safety' is questionable.

So... I don't know if I'll be in school on Tuesday or not, but I want to know your opinions.

What's On the news

I saw a news story on CNN that I though was a joke at first, but it was real. It made me think about what is covered on the news, and what do the stories say about our culture and it's morals? I tried to provide a link to the video. What do you think?

Creative Limits?

Throughout my educational career, I have noticed astounding similarities in both literature and artwork. So, very simply, my question is this: Are there limits to creativity?

Illusion or Reality?

Are there such things as illusion and reality? Or are they two different ways of looking at one side of a coin? If so, what's the other side?

Truth through Art

How can one express truth through art? (Art in the sense of visual works such as paintings, sculptures, or drawings)

1. Who decides what makes art good or bad? Can art be good even if its technically poor but has a strong emotion, feeling or message attached?
2. Is art a personal experience where the viewer gets to decide what it means through their own rationalizations or is it determined through authority, and societal consensus?

Stereotypes and how to avoid/analyze using TOK

When researching how stereotypes occur, I found a startling piece of information. It seems that it takes just 2.5 seconds before one has a first impression, and in turn has the first stereotype.

So, feel free to choose any of the following questions, and analyze (to the best of a TOK student's knowledge using AOKs, Reasoning behind beliefs, etc.)

1) How does one avoid stereotypes? Even if you have them, how do you eliminate them?
2) What would happen if there was a world without stereotypes? Would it be better/worse?
3) Why do you assume that it takes only 2.5 seconds before one already has made a (most likely) false assumption about someone else?

A Generation of Voyeurs?

In the past 15 years, the Internet has allowed every person with a web cam and a mic to truly claim their 10 seconds of fame. Whether it is lipsynching to a Backstreet Boys song or to an obscure, Turkish pop hit, across the world everyone has been searching for the silicon spotlight. While this instinct to fame has always been a natural and present one in humanity, why in this modern day and age are we so open to watching each other complete these embarrassing, ridiculous escapades. In Hollywood, where it seems every woman under 25 has gone utterly crazy, the rest of the country eagerly watches to see the fate of Britney's hair or Paris's prison time. The other day, while browsing the Internet, I came across a website created by a Yale Philosophy graduate, which features several individuals who literally live their entire lives in front of a live broadcast web camera. No privacy. Over 5,000 viewers at a single time. For those interested, though the concept sounds raunchy, they are strictly PG rated existences: http://www.justin.tv/ijustine

So, my question is......why, particularly our generation, are we so entranced with the daily lives and troubles of others? Why is privacy growing to gradual extinction in our society today, and what do YOU think about it's departure, and its possible impact upon future society?


~Jordan C.

Sexism

The second sentence of the wikipage I feel adequately describes the intent of the Feminist movement: "Feminism is also described as an ideology focusing on equality of the sexes."

I am going to make a huge generalization here, but I imagine by that definition everyone here is a Feminist. I hope that that is the case.
However, as much as you may claim you are a feminist, I ask you girls: Have you ever asked a guy out? Would you, before this listing, have thought of proposing to a man? When I googled "Woman proposes to man" it blessed me a total of NINE finds.

Several of the ladies I know have attributed this to a fear of rejection that they for some reason think we are immune to. Some even said that guys wouldn't appreciate it, if the girl asked. I, personally, would have no problem with it.

So the questions are:
Girls: Why don't you ask people out?
Guys: What would you think of a girl asking you out?
All: Is anyone a feminist if they refuse to accept true equality, down to the social aspects of dating? Isn't it sexist to put all of that pressure on one half of the population?

Truth

Is there really such thing as actual truth or is everyone's ideas of truth different? Is there something that is universally accepted as true and do things need to be accepted to be true? Can one person's truth be untrue to someone else?

What is TRUTH?

American role models

Before starting any serious questions, i just want to know what people think of this girl being Miss Teen USA since she is supposed to be a role model to young women.
Of course, the only reason she really is such an influence is because of the media exposure, but what does this say about our country?

The Un-Raw Carrot

To continue with another somewhat general topic, let us migrate towards the discussion of hope. In specific, your reaction(s) to the following quote, and also how it differs from your idea of what hope is.

"Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it."

Personally, I took this quote to mean that when you have hope, you are blinding yourself to reality. In connection to the Allegory of the Cave, I saw the light as not reality, but as hope. It lights the darkness, but leaves shadows in its wake, and those shadows are what we fear, because they are the unknown. The darkness is reality, and the only way to face reality is to look away from the light. Thus, they are no more shadows, they are a part of the darkness. The quote goes on, latter, to say that we need to take the carrot away and walk with our eyes open. Hope is not going to save us, hope will do nothing, and if we follow the carrot, we'll be following it until we realize how we've wasted away.

That's how I took the quote in a nutshell. What do you think?

~Kari~

The Meaning of Life

Ok, I will kick off the TOK year with a very broad topic, one as mysterious as it is intriguing. What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist? Countless generations of human beings have long pondered this bottomless question and have reached their own conclusions. What is yours?

"We sit here, the mountain and I, until only the mountain remains." -Li Po

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice"- Cherokee Proverb

War and Peace

“War cannot be justified as a means of maintaining ideals if our ideals are based on peace” –Unknown

So in English we were looking at quotes and I chose this one to analyze. I posted it on the English blog but I thought that with the nature of the quote it would also be relevant here, this is what I wrote about it.

This quote is made powerful by the simplistic phrasing of an eloquent idea. It has relevance to a present day situation, making it more powerful, as people can relate to it by opinion and emotion. It is a call to justice, stating that we need to take a different action for war if we are truly at war to maintain peace. The word justify implies that the war needs justification, but because of the two contradicting words, it is implied that the justification is faulty, and needs a new one. The words “ideals” and “peace” have become important words in our society, as have freedom, liberty, and happiness; which are contained within American ideals. The quotes main statement is how hypocritical “we” are by using the war as an excuse to maintain ideals, when in fact, we state that our ideals are based on peace.The fact that “ideals” is used twice makes us connect the two action words together. Peace and war are paradoxical, and therefore the reader is forced to look at how exactly they are being connected. Simplifying the quote by taking out the connecting “ideals”, it becomes “War cannot be justified as peace”. A more direct statement of what the author is trying to portray. In this quote the wording is vital to how it is perceived. It is short and to the point. Without the comparison the author makes with his contradicting words and the repetition of “ideals” to enhance the comparison, the quote would not have the same meaning or effect.

Cultural Death Ceremonies

Okay the title is very morbid, but I have always been curious about this subject. How come different cultures have differents ways of seeing of the dead?

For example, in Mexico death is more of a celebration of the loved ones lives, instead of being extremely dark and gloomy. They even have celebrations such as the Day of the Dead to not only bring them back, but also to celebrate and appreciate their lives.

In the United States, funerals take on a different role, and it is meant to remember, rather than celebrate a life well-lived. Funerals are usually very solemn and rarely festive, like the Mexican culture.

How can you explain these differences? How do other cultures, say "goodbye"?

This may be volatile...AIM

I know this could potentially turn into a "lets bash AIM" post, but I genuinely am interested in what people think. (This is about senior AIM for me, but I want to know what junior AIM is like as well).
Today for example, my class was asked what we wanted to get out of the class and so we answered with ideas like college prep time, homework time, food, team building activities (like the ropes course) and the like. Immediately after we had finished the discussion, we were told that the teacher did not see anything that we wanted out of the class. He saw ways we were trying to avoid the class. However, he had not told us the purpose of senior AIM, and then critiqued us without actually knowing what he had wanted us to come up with.
How is this logical?
This class was supposed to be implemented in order for us to make the "transitions", but how can you make the transitions without actually graduating high school (hence the homework time), or applying to colleges (hence the college prep time), or the team building (since the IB kids "run around in packs throughout the school"). However, when we had tried to make the class work for us, we were immediately shot down with "you guys aren't even trying to use the potential this class has". When authority talks to people like this, i believe they lose some of that authority because they lose respect as well.
So, why do we have AIM?
What is going on in other classes? (I know this isn't exactly ToK, but our class isn't exactly the most open to the "IB kids"). Why do people gravitate into cliques when in a class thats meant to break that?
Why do people automatically reject something thats new (think allegory of the cave), or is it when the new thing is forced upon people? (Or do we reject it because we lost late start in our sophomore year?)
-Also (from AIM) can a place (location) be important to someone or is it the event or memory of something that happpened there the true importance?

Insane Tv Ad

"Eat all you want and still loose weight. And we couldn't say it on TV if it wasn't true!" O.K. so I know that TV is famous for outrageous claims. Why do you think that people believe these ads? Its not as if they are an authority or anything, so why does it work?


-Caitlin A.